America

99 Points! So well layered, delicious and vibrant, combining a rich texture with full, ripe fruit flavors and wonderful accents of lemon curd, flint and baking spices. A great wine from a great vineyard in an outstanding vintage. While generous and full-flavored, it also retains great balance, minerality and a slight sense of restraint in the vivid acidity. Fresh and compelling. - JamesSuckling.com

96 Points! Mineral and focused, with aromas of preserved lemons, yellow apples, grapefruit rind, salted nuts and baking spices. The palate features a minerality and focused acidity. The salty, textural mouthfeel has a slight oxidative touch, bringing an interesting third dimension. Drink or hold. - JamesSuckling.com

100 Points! If sunshine could be bottled it would be this. Aromas of fresh succulent stone fruit, a hint of yeast, citrus blossoms and notes of quince on the nose. The mousse is creamy and light with baked red apples, blood orange zest, white grapefruit, sticky caramel and layered salinity with a mouthwatering finish. It will bring a smile to your lips. - Wine Enthusiast, Aug. 2025

97 Points! Pretty, delicate aromas of salt, herbs and pine forest. A compelling wine that really speaks of place, with fine bubbles that coat the palate before resolving in a finish of citrus oil and resinous herbs. Very fresh, layered, vibrant and medium- to full-bodied, with some wonderful chalkiness at the end. - JamesSuckling.com, Dec. 2025

96 Points! A young, potent wine, the 2019 Brut L'Ermitage is shaping up to be the greatest wine ever made at Roederer Estate. The aromatics are beguiling, but the 2019 is going to need a number of years to settle down. Readers will have to be patient. The 2019 is seriously impressive, but it needs time. ... Superb. - Antonio Galloni, Vinous, June 2025

96 Points! Displaying a jeweled red hue, the 2022 Pinot Noir Temperance Hill Vineyard is very layered and beautiful, offering striking clarity in its notes of wild herbs, ripe raspberries, sunny but bright fruit, and fresh rosemary. On the palate, it’s medium-bodied and has wonderful balance and a harmonious feel. Highly appealing now, with a light, juicy feel throughout the palate, it’s long and elegant and is only going to improve in another few years. - Audrey Frick, jebdunnuck.com

94 Points! A Pinot with style and intensity, with a keen structure framed by detailed flavors of blueberry and raspberry that take on clove, forest floor and savory spice accents. Finishes with broad-shouldered tannins. - Wine Spectator

96 Points! A powerful but sleek red that's so concentrated and focused, yet polished and satiny in texture. Rich, fine-grained tannins support black cherries, blackcurrants, iron, flowers and a hint of black-olive flavor. A serious, structured wine that needs a steak to pair with, or more years in the bottle to mature. Drinkable now and best from 2030. - JamesSuckling.com

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99 Points! This wine is truly excellent, showing a mineral-edged nose with pure energy and tension. Aromas of struck match, citrus blossoms, crushed stones and salted nuts. The palate is taut, with no hard edges and driving acidity that keeps you salivating for minutes. Closing in on perfection. Drink or hold. - JamesSuckling.com

100 Points! The 2023 Dominus is a blend of 87% Cabernet Sauvignon, 9% Cabernet Franc, and 4% Petit Verdot. Opaque purple-black in color, it slowly unfurls to reveal a powerful core of blackcurrant jelly, ripe black plums, and fresh blueberries, followed by hints of menthol, crushed rocks, dried sage, black truffles, and black olives. The full-bodied palate is both generous and energetic, displaying an impressive array of savory and earthy nuances among the dense black fruit layers and a rock-solid frame of grainy tannins and beautiful tension, finishing with epic length. - Lisa Perrotti-Brown, MW

99 Points! Black currant, pencil shaving, subtle sandalwood, wet earth, forest floor and violet aromas follow through to a medium- to full-bodied palate with ultra-fine tannins that integrate perfectly at the end. A polished and caressing texture that goes on for minutes. The balance and drinkability of this Dominus is terrific, and it will age beautifully. A blend of 87% cabernet sauvignon, 9% cabernet franc and 4% petit verdot. From organically grown grapes. Very drinkable now, but will age beautifully. - JamesSuckling.com

99 Points! Spellbinding aromas of rose petals, strawberries, citrus and bark, with hints of lemongrass. Medium-bodied, tight and structured, this offers a captivating combination of linear intensity and calmness, so classy and sophisticated. A continued benchmark for American pinot noir. Drink or hold. - JamesSuckling.com

96 Points! Aromas of red and dark fruit, crushed stones, dried herbs, flowers and salt-cured meat. The palate is tightly woven with a silken mouthfeel, fine tannins and a succulent, minerally finish. A wine of real nerve and approachability young, with ample aging potential. A good example of what a cool vintage in a cool appellation can produce. Drink or hold. - JameSuckling.com

99 Points! The 2022 Red Wine Life And Death is Grenache-dominated yet includes 22% Syrah, 13% each of Mourvèdre and Graciano, and 8.5% Petite Sirah, all of which was fermented with 25% whole clusters and brought up in 70% new oak. It offers a sensational perfume of black raspberry and black cherry fruits intermixed with camphor, lavender, white flowers, and peppery, almost garrigue-like nuances. With full-bodied richness, remarkable purity, and a massive, yet somehow elegant, seamless mouthfeel as well as incredible length, it's a masterpiece of a Rhône-like blend from California's Central Coast that could come from nowhere else. The fruit sourcing here is a mix of Bien Nacido, Stolpman, Alta Mesa, Sanger, and Rancho Boa Vista, and the marriage of richness, purity, and finesse is something to behold. This beauty will evolve for 15-20 years if well stored. - Jeb Dunnuck

96 Points! Very focused, pure and well balanced, showing great poise and freshness for a full-bodied Napa red. This cabernet sauvignon-dominant blend is bold and packed with dark fruit, toasted oak and dark spices. Black cherries, dried blueberries, blackberries, black pepper and chocolate mint. Well concentrated and delicious. Drink now or hold. - JamesSuckling.com

95 Points! One of the valley's great, great values, the 2022 The Bard is based on 87% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Merlot, 4% Franc, and the rest a mix of varieties. It has a killer nose of bright red and blue fruits intermixed with spring flowers, graphite, baking spices, and incense. This carries to a beautifully balanced, full-bodied red that has a lively, elegant mouthfeel and fine tannins. It competes with wines at 2-3 times its going rate, especially in a vintage like 2022. - Jeb Dunnuck

96 Points! The 2019 Silver Oak Napa Valley Cabernet shows a deep, ruby colour. It is a beautifully compact wine that delivers complex and nuanced aromas of Bing cherry and black raspberry with tobacco, currant leaf, and cedarwood laced with dried sage. Focused and linear on the medium to full-bodied palate, showing expressive dark berry character and exotic oak spices with a firm backbone of fine-grained structured tannins. Cool raspberry, cherry, and blackberry fruit are perfectly represented, and the lengthy finish is crisp, lively, and energetic. No doubt, this is one to cellar. Exhaustive oak seasoning experiments led by winemaker Nate Weis resulted in the discovery that the American oak they age Silver Oak in when seasoned for 24 months and toasted for 90 minutes, marks the point at which the oak imparts more vanillin character and delivers better tannin integration. By contrast, the 2018 vintage was aged in American oak, seasoned for 16 months and toasted for 60 minutes. Weis explains that their experiments showed that underseasoned American oak imparts a dill character, while overseasoning results in coconutty notes, but finding a sweet spot delivers that vanillian quality winemakers look for in French oak. Taste the 2018 and 2019s side by side if you can, and note the subtle differences and shift to a more savoury profile in the 2019 vintage, with a very precise integration of oak tannin. It will be exciting to follow their progression in the cellar and see how subsequent vintages shape up in healthy and challenging harvest years. - Jonathan Cristaldi, Decanter Magazine

96+ Points! Moving back to the Russian River Valley, the 2023 Pinot Noir Jennifer's Vineyard is a medium ruby color and is more expressive, primary, and floral in this vintage, with notes of mixed berries, crushed roses, and sweet herbs. The palate reveals more tension and brightness and is more approachable and open than the nose suggests, with bright acidity, well-defined tannins, and hints of citrus and dried herbs on the finish. I would give this one another year to allow its more savory and layered depth to unfold. - Audrey Frick, jebdunnuck.com

99 Points! A fabulous wine of focus and polish with very fine tannins that caress your palate and give great length to the finish. Medium to full body. The aromas of violets and currants are so beautiful. Dreamy. Best ever? A blend of 92% cabernet sauvignon, 4% cabernet franc, 2% merlot, 1% malbec and 1% petit verdot. - JamesSuckling.com

97 Points! Winemaker Chris Carpenter says that his Mt. Brave Cabernet Sauvignon from Mt. Veeder is intended to serve as a counterpoint to the La Jota Cabernet, which is from Howell Mountain, but that each wine showcases a softer expression of mountain Cabernet, and one that is poised for earlier drinking for collectors who stash bottles of the single vineyard Cabernet wines from Lokoya in their cellar. The soils atop Mt. Veeder are volcanic and sedimentary, and two sites provide the grapes for Mt. Brave. One is the Mt. Brave Vineyard, formerly Chateau Potelle Vineyard, and the site is above the fog line on the northern part of Mt. Veeder, where the soils are well-draining, and yields are generally two tons per acre in good vintages. The other is Veeder Peak Estate. Each site is about 24ha. This blend of 92% Cabernet Sauvignon, 4% Cabernet France, 2% Merlot, 1% Malbec, and 1% Petit Verdot was aged 23 months in 80% new French oak. Super fragrant with black fruits, black cherry, and graphite minerality with violets and cherry liqueur undertones. Full-bodied with pronounced tannins that have a chalkiness about them, balanced by very soft and supple fruit that makes this wine so approachable in its youth. An extended finish is marked by blue fruit and pronounced garrigue, blue agave syrup, sage, and crushed cocao nibs. - Decanter Magazine

99 Points! Remarkably pure and fresh. Pristine black cherry and blackberry, layered with beautiful violet aromas. Everything builds with precision and focus, supported by gorgeously firm, taut, mineral-rich tannins that bring energy and drive. The wine is compact and tightly wound at this youthful stage, its intensity truly emblematic of the vintage. - Decanter Magazine

94 Points! Ripe, fresh and focused, with a lovely beam of red currant plum coulis that stretches out alongside hints of savory, violet, tobacco and singed cedar. Finishes with a late twang of iron. Nicely done. - Wine Spectator

Carlisle is wrapping it up after the great 2023 vintage. This is your last shot!

96 Points! Moving to the Russian River Valley, the 2023 Zinfandel Piner-Olivet Ranches is a saturated red color and amplifies things with its more forward, layered feel, offering aromas of kirsch, bright pepper spice, cedar, and fresh flowers .The acidity shines through more vibrantly compared to the Sonoma Valley wines, with a more electric feel, ripe tannins, and a long finish. It reminds me of great Barbera, retaining both ripeness and vibrant acidity. It’s a tremendous vintage of this wine to drink over the coming 12-15 years. - Audrey Frick, jebdunnuck.com

96 Points! The 2022 Red Wine The Meadows is the first special bottling Mayacamas has produced that is not Cabernet Sauvignon. A burst of dark red cherry fruit, rose petal, mocha, licorice and sweet spice are all dialed up. Plush contours wrap it all together in style. The 2022 is not the most complex wine I have ever tasted here, but it is immensely pleasurable. The blend is 68% Cabernet Sauvignon, 24% Merlot and 8% Cabernet Franc. Sadly production is only 89 cases. - Antonio Galloni, Vinous  

93+ Points! In lieu of a special Cabernet Sauvignon release from the 2022 vintage, Mayacamas has bottled the 2022 Red Wine The Meadows, a blend of 68% Cabernet Sauvignon, 24% Merlot and 8% Cabernet Franc. From a site at 2,000 to 2,100 feet above sea level and influenced by the cool headwaters of Redwood Creek, it delivers polished notes of pencil shavings, crushed stone, black cherries and cassis. In the mouth, it's medium to full-bodied, firm and dusty but with ample length and intensity on the sage-tinged finish.- Joe Czerwinski, robertparker.com

96 Points! From one of the warmer sites in the appellation, the 2023 Pinot Noir Pisoni Vineyard is big in style, tannin, and dark berry flavor yet well-balanced, a showcase of intensely rich, layered fruit that is accented in sage, spice, and dried herb. Winemaker Sean Capiaux has worked with Pisoni since 1998, and as such is one of the longest-standing purchasers of that fruit, and his understanding of the site is in clear view here. This will be a long-lived wine; enjoy best 2028-2038. - Virginie Boone, jebdunnuck.com

99 Points! Lots of perfume and dark-fruit aromas with floral and burnt-orange undertones. Full-bodied and very, very refined and long. It goes on for minutes. Such subtlety and wonderful tannins. Love it. Drink in 2020. - JamesSuckling.com

97 Points! Also 100% Cabernet Sauvignon yet from Pritchard Hill, the 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon Houyi Vineyard offers a massive blast of blue fruits, crushed violets, spice box, and new leather. This beauty comes from a site next to David Arthur and has a ripe, rounded, and incredibly sexy style that belies its mountain terroir. Still, it has plenty of underlying tannins, impeccable balance, and one seriously long finish. Give it a year or so and drink bottles over the following 2-3 decades. - Jeb Dunnuck

96 Points! Pale silver/yellow in hue and coming from Mount Pisgah Polk County, the 2023 Chardonnay Freedom Hill Vineyard turns up the intensity with notes of lime oil, crushed flint, starfruit, and subtle spice. Medium-bodied and saturating on the palate, the acidity is present but even, offering a graceful tension. The finish carries elegant notes of white peach and candied lime. A beautiful, expressive wine to drink 2025-2040. - Audrey Frick, jebdunnuck.com

96 Points! Yet another exhilarating and finely etched Chardonnay from Ken Pahlow, this one from the Freedom Hill Vineyard. Classic Walter Scott reduction on the nose, with serious salinity and smoky, chipped flint announcing this wine's mineral core, which buoys the intense grilled lemon wedge.The palate has verve and plays off the briny and smoky minerality. - Decanter Magazine